Guardian
by maria the dreamer
Summary: Matt has become obsessed with finding Leomon and the Dark Haired Girl. T.K. tries to help, but how does he feel about watching over his big brother? Part three in my series...


**Guardian**

**By maria the dreamer**

This is the third chapter in my story. You may want to read the other two chapters first, if you haven't already, but I don't think you have to. Thanks for reading!

**

Encompassed in a surge of energy, T.K. flew through the gateway into the Digital world. It was the sixth time he'd been through that day, the thirty-second time in the last four days, and he was tired of it. The view from the hilltop looked the same as a dozen other views and he felt pretty sure the result would be the same as all the other times as well.

"Matt, I don't really think Leomon is going to be all the way out here," T.K. said as Patamon flew over and settled on the top of his hat.

"He's got to be somewhere," Matt answered, pushing his jacket sleeves up to his elbows as he looked down at the tiny village in the valley below.

"If he wanted to hide from us, I'm sure he would be able to," T.K. went on. "We just don't know the DigiWorld well enough."

Matt turned to T.K. "Are you saying we should give up?"

_Yes!_ T.K. thought, as he clamped his mouth shut.

"What would you do if Leomon stabbed you through the shoulder?" Matt asked.

"But your shoulder is fine," replied T.K.

"Do you think I was hallucinating? Like Joe and the others?"

"Even if he did do it, do you think Leomon is just going to be sitting around, waiting for you to find him?" 

"You don't have to be here if you don't want to," Matt said, his voice tight.

"Well, someone's got to come with you," T.K. said, crossing his arms defensively. 

"Is that why you're here?" Matt said. "Because you have to?"

T.K. said nothing. What could he say? That was exactly why he was there. Matt couldn't get to the Digital World without one of the newer Digivices.

Matt stared at T.K., looking as if he had just been betrayed. "It's just, why would Leomon do it?" Matt said desperately. "I don't understand."

T.K. felt his heart get heavy. "But it's eating you up, Matt." 

Matt broke T.K.'s gaze, choosing to look instead at the grass between them as he stuffed his hands deep into his pant pockets. "I keep thinking of that girl, what she must be thinking. She probably thinks I'm dead." Matt kicked at a stump of grass near his feet. "Her eyes, they were so dark. Not the colour or anything. Like she was depressed."

_Like you,_ T.K. thought. _Just like you._

"I just wish I could find her, let her know I was okay, you know?" Matt continued. 

"Yeah," T.K. offered.

"Just this last one today, okay?" Matt asked, as he looked up at T.K. "Just one more. Then, I'll let it go."

"Sure, Matt," T.K. quietly agreed. He hoped Matt would let this obsession with Leomon and the girl go, but he knew his brother, so he knew better than to believe it.

Matt started down the hill, with Gabumon following close behind. T.K. watched his brother's hair swinging with the rhythm of his long strides. 

"Do you think we'll ever find Leomon, T.K.?" Patamon asked in his soft voice.

"No. I don't, Patamon," T.K. replied with a sigh. "Not unless he wants us to."

Matt turned back towards T.K., a small smile curling the corner of his mouth like a challenge. "You coming?"

T.K. returned the smile, then suddenly broke out in a sprint, leaping over clumps of grass and mounds of dirt as he practically flew down the hill. Patamon tried to hold on but soon bounced off, and was forced to fly still clutching T.K.'s hat.

Matt turned and ran, but T.K. soon caught up. For a moment or two, they ran shoulder to shoulder down the grassy slope, laughing together. 

It lasted, but not too long. T.K. couldn't help himself. He shot ahead of Matt, outdistancing him in no time, and ran down the entire slope, ending the race with a spectacular dive as he tumbled into the tall grass and wild flowers. T.K. laid where he fell, looking at the sky, spread like an angel, breathing heavily as a bead of sweat trickled down his neck. 

Matt's face finally appeared above him. His brother leaned forward with his hands on his knees, panting for breath. 

I suppose that wasn't fair, T.K. thought with a smile. Matt was never one for running. "You okay?" he asked.

Matt simply rolled his eyes and collapsed into the grass next to T.K. 

Gabumon and Patamon soon caught up and stretched themselves out in the meadow next to the brothers. The four of them together stared up at the sky and forgot about everything for a little while.

**

Walking into the village later, T.K. realized he had been right, the huts were very tiny. In fact, most of them only came up as high as his waist. 

"This place reminds me of the Yokomon village," he muttered to no one in particular.

"This is not a Yokomon village," Gabumon corrected. "You can see by the shape of the roofs that this is a Tanemon village."

"All small, round, grass huts look the same to me," Matt joked, before calling out to the seemingly empty huts. "Hello! Anybody here?"

"It sure is quiet," Patamon said nervously.

"Wait!" Gabumon exclaimed. "I think I hear something." Gabumon lead the others through the clusters of empty huts towards the far side of the village. 

T.K. walked carefully, so as not to step on anything or knock one of the huts with the side of his leg. Once he cleared the last of the huts, T.K. found he was standing with the others at the top of a small embankment that lead down to a rocky stream. Below him were about thirty or forty Tanemon, which were small, green, plant-bulb creatures with sprouts on their heads, all circled around a large plant twice as tall as Matt or T.K. The base of the plant was buried in the ground. The top was covered with long vines, and each vine seemed to be attached to a Tanemon. 

At first T.K. thought the vines were swaying with the breeze, but when he noticed there was no breeze here at all, he shuddered with the realization each vine was moving differently, stroking each Tanemon individually.

"It's alive," he whispered.

The vines rippled at the sound of his voice, unwinding from around the Tanemon and lifting to reveal hundreds of tiny eyes covering the base of the plant creature. Each eye looked in a different direction and blinked in a different rhythm. One by one, they began to focus on the small group on the embankment. 

"What is it?" Matt breathed.

"I am Senzaimon," the plant replied in a melodious voice that sounded like three women speaking at once. "I tend to the Tanemon." Her vines undulated above the now bright-eyed Tanemon. "Why are you here?" 

T.K. looked nervously over at Matt, who swallowed hard before speaking. "I'm looking for someone."

"No one ever comes here," Senzaimon replied matter-of-factly.

Not about to give up, Matt skidded down the embankment and walked toward the creature. The Tanemon began crowding protectively between them. 

"I'm looking for Leomon," he said.

Senzaimon's eyes widened randomly. She stretched a single vine towards Matt, who T.K. thought was standing incredibly still considering how bizarre the creature looked. The tip of the vine gently touched Matt's shoulder where he said Leomon had impaled him. 

"What has he done to you?" she asked, curious.

T.K. couldn't believe it. She seemed to know what happened somehow. He looked down at Gabumon, who was equally amazed.

"Do you know Leomon?" Matt asked.

Senzaimon's vines seemed to shrug. "I do not know him." 

Matt's shoulders stiffened. "I don't believe you."

"Are you the light?" she asked.

"No," Matt replied. 

_No,_ T.K.'s thoughts echoed. _Matt's crest is friendship. Kari's crest is light._

"Are you sure?" Her vine lifted from Matt's shoulder and caressed under his chin and up along the side of his check. T.K. shuddered sympathetically. "The legend says Leomon will bring the light and the dark together." 

Suddenly, Senzaimon's eyes darted about as if alerted to something. T.K. instinctively looked over his shoulder but saw nothing moving in the village.

"What legend?" Matt asked.

"They are coming for you," she said as she wrapped her vines protectively around the Tanemon, who chattered anxiously. "You must leave now."

"Something's wrong," Gabumon said as he scanned the area.

"What legend? You know something!" Matt yelled over the noise of the Tanemon. 

"Go now!" Senzaimon threw the words like a tidal wave, stunning them all into silence.

T.K. swatted at something on his leg. "Matt!" he shouted. "Let's go!"

Either Matt couldn't hear T.K., or didn't want to. Instead, he tried to force his way through the Tanemon to get closer to Senzaimon. 

T.K. raked at his ankles. "What the-?" He expected to see a bug. He did not expect to see a swarm of ant-like robots crawling all over his shoes and moving up onto his legs.

"Get off me!" he screamed.

"T.K.!" Patamon shouted as he flew off T.K.'s head to help.

T.K. frantically brushed the strange mechanical insects off his legs. "What are they?" he shouted.

"I don't know!" Patamon cried, upset because he couldn't do anything to help T.K.

Gabumon attacked some of the insects on the ground with his Blue Blaster, causing the ones on T.K.'s legs to retreat and join their injured comrades. 

Suddenly, the grass came alive with the insects, all crawling to join the others in a growing, writhing mound. T.K.'s ears began to ache from the sound of their clicking.

The mass of insects melted into each other and reformed, first into a larger version of the insect about the size of a dog, then melting again and reforming as a half-man/half-insect with a black shelled body divided into two segments. Its arms were also broken into segments and looked like giant feelers. Its mouth wasalmost human, if you overlooked the four sharp fangs built for sucking rather than biting. 

The man-insect slowly bent towards T.K., it's faceted eyes bulging, then stopped and turned as if noticing Matt for the first time. "We have come for the light," it hissed, straightening and starting toward Matt.

Matt, who had been struggling through the Tanemon and could not possible have heard the creature speak, oddly stopped and slowly turned to find the creature lurching down the embankment towards him. 

"What?" he said, confused.

The Tanemon squealed in panic and began frantically digging away the dirt from around Senzaimon. Senzaimon waved her vines menacingly at the creature, but it was not intimidated. It remained focused on Matt.

"Patamon!" T.K. called.

Patamon flew up behind the man-insect. "Boom Bubble, Pah!" he cried as he attacked. 

A giant bubble of power exploded across the creature's back. It hesitated and turned.

"Blue Blaster!" Gabumon shouted, and he fired a stream of icy blue energy directly into the insect's scrawny neck, causing it's head to shake uncontrollably.

T.K. and the two Digimon braced themselves for an attack, but it never came. Instead, the creature looked from Gabumon to Patamon and back to Gabumon, as if it were considering whether it could beat them. It must have decided not to fight because it began breaking down into smaller creatures, all crawling over one another to escape into the grass, becoming smaller and smaller as they raced away until they became so tiny no one could see them at all. The clicking sound drifted into silence.

"T.K.! Your legs!" Patamon cried unhappily. "They're bleeding!"

Looking down, T.K. saw a cross-hatch of tiny scratches swelling slightly with blood. He brushed the side of his calf, smearing the blood across his skin. He stared at the blood on his hand for a moment before trying to rub if off on his shorts.

Matt was already turned back to Senzaimon. The Tanemon had dug her free of the earth and now lifted her in the air. 

"We must leave this place," Senzaimon explained as the Tanemon carried her slowly in the direction opposite to where the insects had disappeared.

"Wait! You can't go now, I need your help!" Matt said frantically. "What about the girl?"

"Matt!" T.K. called out. "We need to get out of here!"

"But she knows something," Matt answered, not moving.

"T.K.'s right, Matt," Gabumon said. "Please, let's go."

Matt turned to see Senzaimon and the Tanemon making good progress along the stream's edge and shouted to T.K., "I can't! Not yet."

T.K. couldn't believe it. "Well, I'm getting out of here!" he yelled. He spun on his heels and stormed through the village.

He didn't look back until he arrived back at the television set on the hill. Matt was no where to be seen. 

Of course, he couldn't leave without Matt, or else Matt wouldn't be able to get back. Angry, but with nothing to do but wait. T.K. sat on the grass and watched down the slope, rubbing his legs and silently cursing his brother the whole time. 

About half an hour passed before Matt and Gabumon finally made it up the hill. 

"Senzaimon wouldn't tell me anything more," Matt said quietly. "Can we go?"

"Sure," T.K. said as he stood up. He lifted his Digivice, pointed it at the television set and activated the gateway. 

Neither spoke until they were back in the real world and walking in front of the school. Matt stopped at the corner where they would have to split up. 

"Why don't you come to my place," he suggested. "I'll fix up your legs, make you some dinner. Dad won't be home until" Matt's voice trailed away as a girl with long, dark hair, like the girl from the restaurant, passed by them. 

_Forget Leomon,_ T.K. thought. _It's that girl he's obsessed with. _

Frustrated, he said, "Skip dinner, I'm going home." And he walked away, leaving his brother on the street.

**

T.K. started for home, but when he found himself in front of his apartment building, he couldn't go in.Instead, he kept walking, around the block and back again until he was staring at the doors of the school.

"Hey, T.K.," a voice called from behind him. 

"Kari!" T.K. said, taken completely off guard. He didn't think he was going to be able to see Kari at all because he had to spend the whole day with his brother.

"Where's Matt?" she asked.

"He's, uh, I think he's at home," T.K. replied. 

Kari wrinkled her eyebrows in concern. "Did things go all right today?" Her face tipped up towards his, tilted slightly to one side.

"We were attacked by some strange insect things. I don't think they were Digimon," T.K. explained. "I figured I'd go back to the Digiworld to see if I could find any clues as to what they were. Do you want to come?" He hadn't actually thought about going back to the Tanemon village until that moment, but now that he said it, it seemed like a good idea. Especially if it meant he could be with Kari.

"Sure!" she said enthusiastically. "Gatomon and I were bored today anyway. Right, Gatomon?"

"Yes," Gatomon agreed. "Bored beyond belief."

T.K.'s mood improved all the way to the computer lab, until he opened the door to find Davis in front of the computer.

"Hey Kari! What are you guys doing here?" Davis said in his usual hyper way. "I was thinking about going to the Digiworld to help look for Leomon but Yolei and Cody couldn't go. Hey, T.K., what happened to your legs?"

Kari looked down at T.K's legs in alarm. "That looks terrible! Did those insects do that to you?"

"What insects?" Davis wondered.

"T.K. and Matt were attacked by some weird insects," Kari answered. "We're going to go investigate. Do you want to come with us?"

T.K. sighed. He knew exactly what Davis' response would be.

"Sure, Kari!" Davis exclaimed. "Let's go!"

"Can I go first for a change, Davis," Kari said as she pulled out her Digivice. "You always get to go first."

"It's just that it's dangerous to go first, so it's better if I go first to make sure everything's safe," Davis said. "I wouldn't want you to get hurt or anything."

"Davis, I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. Plus, you'll be right behind me, right?"

Davis thought about it for a second. "Okay, Kari. If you want to go first, that's just fine by me. I'll be right behind you."

"Good," Kari said with a satisfied smile. She held up her Digivice, activated the gateway, and disappeared with Gatomon. 

Davis and DemiVeemon were right behind her as promised.

T.K. briefly wondered whether they would miss him if he didn't show, but couldn't stand the idea of Davis being alone with Kari. He activated his Digivice and went through to the Digiworld, back to the same spot for the second time that day. 

Kari looked down the hill at the village. Davis looked at Kari. Patamon settled on T.K.'s hat. It was like living in a strange loop that went around and around and never changed. 

"Is that the village?" Kari asked.

"Yeah, that's the place," T.K. answered, walking up beside her.

"It looks pretty quiet," Davis said as he joined them. 

"That's because the Tanemon have all gone," T.K. explained.

"You were attacked by Tanemon? That doesn't sound very scary," Davis went on.

"We weren't attacked by Tanemon, Davis," T.K. sighed. "We were attacked by something else."

Davis scanned the horizon, then the sky. "Whatever it was, it's gone now," he said confidently.

"They were insects, Davis, remember?" Kari said. 

"Oh yeah," Davis replied.

"We'll have to go into the village," T.K. said as he started down the hill. "You think you can make it, Davis?" 

"Very funny, _T.B._," Davis said, purposely getting the name wrong, as he quickly matched stride with T.K., his dark hair bobbing on the top where it wasn't pinned under Tai's old goggles. 

Kari fell into step with them, and the three of them made it into the valley in good time. They found the Tanemon village deserted, as expected. 

T.K. made his way through the huts to the embankment. The stream bubbled innocently along as if nothing happened. The ground, though, was torn apart. A big empty pit, like a massive tree had been ripped out by the roots, was the only evidence of Senzaimon and the Tanemon. 

Kari joined T.K. at the embankment, but Davis was still busy in the village, bending down and peaking into one of the huts. "Nothing in here."

Veemon appeared from inside another. "Nothing in here either."

"Just what exactly are we looking for?" Davis asked.

"Bugs, Davis," T.K. said slowly, exaggerating the words. "Mechanical bugs that join with other bugs to make bigger bugs."

"Oh," Davis said as he wandered over to the embankment. "What happened down there?"

"It's a long story," T.K. replied. "I'm going down to take a closer look." He skidded down the side of the embankment and walked through the mounds of dirt toward the pit. 

"I'm coming, too," Kari said.

"But Kari, those bugs could still be down there," Davis said as he grabbed her lightly by the arm to hold her back.

"Davis," Kari complained as she pulled her arm away. "Don't be so ridiculous."

T.K. smiled to himself as he kicked around in the dirt, looking for the robots but finding nothing. He shouldn't have been worried about Davis.

Suddenly, Kari screamed.

"No!" T.K. cried. How could he be so stupid! He left her standing right where he had been attacked. He jumped to his feet and took off for Kari, almost tripping over Patamon. 

Kari hopped around, hitting at the insects crawling up her legs. 

Davis was on his knees trying to knock them away. "Hold still!" he shouted. "I can't get them if you keep jumping!"

"How can I stand still!" she screamed. "Just get them off me!"

"Patamon!" T.K. yelled as he scrambled up the embankment. "Get the ones on the ground!"

Patamon flew over T.K.'s head and attacked. "Boom Bubble, Pah!" he cried. 

Just as before, all the insects fled from Kari and, along with those on the ground, gathered in a mound. 

T.K. grabbed a stunned Kari and pulled her away from the robot-insects. "Get back!"

More and more of the creatures poured into the mass from the grass nearby. All were absorbed. And as the mound grew, so did that same horrible clicking sound.

"That's disgusting," Davis said as he watched the creatures form themselves into a single, larger insect. "Blast it, Veemon!"

"You got it, Davis." Veemon ran over and clobbered it with his Vee Punch, but the blow was absorbed by the growing creature. 

Patamon shouted, "Boom Bubble!" The attack simply bounced off the insect's shiny, black shell. 

"It's stronger than before," T.K. exclaimed. 

The insect now rose up until it stood on its hind legs. In a matter of seconds, it was as tall as T.K., and there were still more robots teeming into it from the grass.

"Forget this," Davis said as he pulled out his Digivice and activated it. "Veemon, Armour Digivolve!"

In an amazing explosion of light and energy, Veemon Digivolved into Flamedramon. Flamedramon leapt into the air and launched his Fire Rocket, hitting the insect full on the chest. The flames burst across its shell, but bounced away without doing any harm.

"Patamon, it's your turn," T.K. shouted. 

"You too, Gatomon," Kari ordered.

Digivices were activated and in seconds the two small Digimon evolved, Patamon into Pegasusmon and Gatomon into Nefertimon. They took off into the air, and along with Flamedramon, soon had the thing surrounded. 

The creature turned to size up its new foes, but did nothing.

"Why isn't it attacking?" Kari wondered as she watched it grow and change, looking more and more like a grown man encased in an insect's shell.

"Who cares!" Davis replied. "Let's get it before it gets us!"

"I agree," said Flamedramon.

T.K. hesitated. Why wasn't it attacking? 

"T.K.?" Davis asked, waiting.

As if sensing weakness, the creature moved toward them. "We have come for the light."

T.K. made up his mind. "Pegasusmon! Attack!"

Pegasusmon attacked with Aquas Beam, a stream of blue energy. The creature arched it's back, shrieking in agony. Nefertimon joined in with a pummeling of her Rosetta Stone attack. Flamedramon launched another Fire Rocket. 

The force of the simultaneous attacks rocked the creature. It raised its arms high in the air, its whole body tensed with anger and pain. 

"No!" it cried out. Sections of the creature began to break away, dissolving into small robots in mid air, crashing into dirt. As the man-creature melted, its moaning fractured from one voice into hundreds of voices, all screaming out in pain. The smaller insects hit the ground running, flowing into the grass like a river.

"Let's follow them!" T.K. shouted. Pegasusmon flew past, T.K. jumped on his back, and they took off into the air. There were so many of the insects, that even though they were too small to see, he knew from the way the grass moved where they were going.

Davis was on Flamedramon's back, following the insects on the ground. Even at top speed, Flamedramon could not match flow of insects, as they surged ahead through the field, disappearing around the hill at the top of the valley. 

Kari flew up behind T.K. on Nefertimon. "They're too fast!" she called out.

Rounding the side of the hill, the river of insects had vanished, leaving only a wide swath of crushed grass winding into the distance. 

"Wait," T.K. yelled down to Davis. "They're gone!" 

Flamedramon stopped running, and Davis called up to T.K. and Kari. "What now?"

"Hey! Look!" Kari exclaimed, pointing in the direction the insects had gone.

"What is it?" Davis asked anxiously.

Off in the distance a giant dome glistened, even more spectacular in the fading light. Barely visible through the dome loomed a forbidding fortress. 

"I think we're going to need some help," T.K. muttered.

**

T.K. knocked quietly on the door. No answer. He pulled the keys out of his pocket and found the ones for his dad's and Matt's apartment. When he let himself in, the whole place was dark except for a small light coming from the kitchen.

Matt had fallen asleep in the chair. His head, moving up and down with his heavy breathing, hung forward over the guitar still clutched in his hands. The food he made for dinner was still on his plate, mostly untouched. T.K. slid the plate over to Patamon, who had landed on the table.

T.K. leaned his brother back into the chair and carefully pried his fingers from around the neck of the guitar. After that, it was easy to slip the rest of the guitar out from under Matt's other arm. T.K. gently rested the guitar against the wall. He grabbed a blanket from a nearby chair.

"T.K.!" Matt murmured, as he opened his eyes slightly.

T.K. draped the blanket over his brother, who grabbed the edge and pulled it up over his shoulder and under his chin as he rolled to one side. "Thanks." 

T.K. watched for a moment as his brother settled back into sleep. When Matt's breathing steadied, T.K. grabbed another plate of food from the kitchen, slouched back into an empty chair, and ate in the darkness.

**That's it for now!**

Don't forget to leave a review!! Thanks, maria


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